What a relief for all of Sacramento that Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho won\u2019t be elected to California\u2019s 6th Congressional District. The man may be one of the region\u2019s most power-hungry politicians in recent memory \u2014 a title not easy to attain in this town.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, it appears voters saw enough reasons to vote for someone other than<\/a> the county\u2019s top prosecutor. Perhaps it was because Ho\u2019s brazen attempt to stand for Congress while actively suing the City of Sacramento was one of the most shameless political maneuvers the capital city has seen in years.<\/p>\n His congressional aspirations are currently trailing in a distant fourth place, far behind the state\u2019s most infamous Independent-In-Name-Only, Rep. Kevin Kiley. We can only hope that \u2014 like those he prosecutes for the DA\u2019s office \u2014 Ho might learn a lesson from his defeat.<\/p>\n That seems unlikely, however, given his recent complaints over proposed budget reductions<\/a> to the County DA\u2019s office. That\u2019s a stunning accusation from a man who seems all too willing to waste the department\u2019s time and money on a frivolous lawsuit.<\/p>\n It all started back in 2023, when Ho claimed the City of Sacramento\u2019s response<\/a> to the ongoing crisis of homelessness was insufficient and therefore, he deemed, unlawful. Ho proceeded to sue the city and various politicians in it, including former Mayor Darrell Steinberg, in September of that year.<\/p>\n It took only a matter of months for the Sacramento County Superior Court to dismiss Ho\u2019s argument as unfounded.<\/a> Nevertheless, the county prosecutor filed another, similar case shortly afterward.<\/a> It, too, has gone nowhere since.<\/p>\n Think of the optics that presented for voters in the 6th District, which covers a large swath of the northern parts of Sacramento: A candidate running for Congress to represent a city he was actively suing<\/a> with a shambolic lawsuit.<\/p>\n Furthermore, when asked about the status of his case against the city, Ho repeatedly told the press<\/a> and the public it had been settled. But when The Bee contacted the City of Sacramento about the supposed settlement, the city responded that the case was most decidedly not settled, nor over.<\/p>\n (According to the most recent court filing, another case management conference is scheduled on August 7 between the two parties.)<\/p>\n Ho has only one rational path left open to him now: Drop this case for the bogus attack on Sacramento<\/a> that it has been all along.<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear Sacramento would be better served not by a Rep. Ho, but by a DA Ho who focused his attention on the role he\u2019s already been elected to. But his behavior has damaged even that possibility.<\/p>\n